Day by Day
by Cheure
Summary: Oneshot. Link breaks up with Ilia for Zelda, which sends her into a deep depression, under the assumption that the reason for the breakup was the typical excuse-Link favours Zelda over her. But when Link dies of a heart defect weeks later, she finds out the true reason of why he broke up with her in the first place. OOC. AU. Based on Haru Haru by Big Bang. LiLia and ZeLink.


Day by Day (Oneshot)

•

-One month earlier-

"I've found another person, Ilia."

Those single five words were enough to tear Ilia apart-actually, they were more than enough. She just couldn't believe that Link would turn on her like this. She felt the pent up emotions and rage inside of her begin to boil and want to explode. But she just couldn't bear to yell and scream in his face like a little child would. Instead, Ilia took a deep breath and silently calmed herself down. "Who is this person in question?" She asked, in the most gentle way she could muster.

Link turned away. "None of your business. Just so you know, I really don't like you anymore. You're not my type." he rotated around and bowed his head down in shame.

But when he looked up, she was gone. All that remained was her leather necklace,thrown on the ground.

•

Midna let out a sigh and adjusted her rearview mirror, looking at an reversed image of Link and one of the most popular girls in high school, Zelda, holding hands and looking at each other in the eyes. She was waiting for Zelda to finish her business with Link. But for now, she watched as Link took out a leather necklace with a carved wooden charm on it, the same one that Ilia had given him a while ago,and gently hung it on Zelda's neck.

Unknown to the three, Ilia had also been watching with her friends Agatha and Hena, but from a distance-they were hidden in a alleyway, shielded from Midna's view. Ilia's mouth was open wide with utter dismay and shock as the horrible physics played out in front of her.

"I really, really love you, Zelda. You're the most I could ask for." Link smiled. "I hope you'll accept this as a gift of my appreciation."

Zelda nodded in happiness. "I do, I do. I love you too, Link. You're so handsome and nice and..."A car horn blared, ripping the two away from their romance. She glanced up and saw Midna motioning to Link to hurry up. "...You should really go now." She removed her right palm from his and led him to Midna's car. And as he slipped inside the shotgun, Zelda gave him a little kiss on the lips. Ilia wanted to puke-just the sight of Link giving the necklace she had given him so long ago away to Zelda was more than enough.

When Zelda finally finished waving Link and Midna away, she glanced back to see an angry Ilia stomping towards her, Agatha and Hena following the girl and trying to pull her back, begging her not to do what she was about to do.

"Why did you do that? Why did you do that, huh?" Ilia yelled, pointing in an accusing manner at the suprised Zelda as Hena said, "Oh, please no please no don't do this, 'Lia..."

"What?" Zelda questioned, confused. Then her face lit up with realisation. "Oh, you mean Link?"

Ilia's face twisted into a scowl. "Of course!" She replied back.

Zelda pursed her lips and put her finger to her mouth. "Well...How do I say this? Ah." She walked over to Ilia and slapped her hand onto Ilia's back. "Link broke up with you just a couple of days ago, am I right?"

All Ilia could do was grumble a "yes" in reply.

"Well, see, Link asked me out about after he did so, and I accepted. Too bad, you guys dated for so long." Zelda held her arms up into the air and shrugged."That's life though. Stop being such a stupid bitch and deal with it."

"Why, you-" Ilia was ready to pounce onto Zelda. Her hands were balled into fists, and her knees were poised into a crouching position. "No, Ilia!" Agatha squealed through strenuous efforts to keep her at bay. Despite the strength of the two friends combined, Ilia managed to free herself.

"Don't you dare!" Ilia screamed as she raced towards a frowning Zelda at her top speed. She grabbed Zelda's purse straps and yanked on them, pulling Zelda closer to her own face. Ilia's eyes shone with hate as she snarled,"Link is my friend! You can't just do that-"

"Yes, I can." Zelda's smirk came back into her face. "Remember, Link doesn't like you anymore. Not just that, he HATES you. That's what he told me." She pushed Ilia away from her own body and dusted her blouse away. Her purse fell to the ground. "Like I said. Deal with it, you stupid bitch. Link is not your boyfriend anymore. And grow your fucking hair out, you look like a boy." Zelda picked the purse up from the asphalt and proceeded to walk away.

Ilia held up a hand. "Wait-"

Zelda spun around and spat, "Shut up!" She held her palm up high and slapped Ilia on the cheek. The pain stung and hurt so bad. Ilia collapsed to the ground, holding her cheek up to her hand. Hena and Agatha gasped in shock. Ilia averted her eyes as Zelda towered over her, a mad light in Zelda's face. "Do you understand those words? Or do I have to repeat?" Zelda said, slowly and harshly.

Numbly, Ilia nodded, unable to respond.

"Good." Zelda spun around on her high heels and brisked away, not looking back. "I don't want to see you ever again," she called out as she disappeared into the alleyway. "Get it?"

When she was finally gone, Hena and Agatha kneeled besides Ilia and helped her up. "Forget it, 'Lia." Hena said as she took Ilia's left arm. "Zelda's not worth fighting, and Link's not worth fighting for."

Those words were more daggers to tear her apart. When Ilia was finally in the car, Hena driving and Agatha riding in the back, she looked the other way so that her friends wouldn't question or comment on the expression on her face. If they did, however, they would have seen the salty, bitter tears flowing from her green irises.

•

Ilia sat alone in the grey plush chair, watching news on the bunny-ears television with teary eyes. The television flashed with dull images of a war somewhere, a political race somewhere else. Occasionally, she would take a glance outside and turn back to the TV to notice quick flashes of old memories with Link-eating a funnel cake, riding a roller coaster, swimming in the local park's lake. Then all went back to the dreary news. It's already happened more than once, and Ilia was sick of it. She wondered if she was hallucinating or not. In frustration, she abruptly stood up and kicked the TV off its stand. The strong force of the kick made the TV fly into the wall, shattering the screen glass into many pieces which scattered onto the floor.

Ilia burst into the adjacent bathroom, turning on the faucet and splashed icy-cold water into her face. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror. A gaunt figure looked back at her, its eyes sullen and its face shallow and sunken. As Ilia looked at the ghost that had appeared in front of her, she thought of Link-and Zelda. They were probably having fun somewhere, kissing and hugging at the park, or something like so. The vision of them doing so didn't bring on jealousy like it had last time-it brought on sadness and desolation.

Those feelings guided her hand to punch the mirror. The centre of the impact cracking all glass surrounding it, bits and shards of sharp transparent objects flying out onto the marble sink top, snapping Ilia out of her dreamy reverie, cutting open Ilia's skin, making small cuts on her fingers that blood found its way though, flowing down onto her palms, then her wrists, then dripped down from her elbows onto the black and white checkered floors. Ilia fell on the tiles, rushing to the toilet paper dispenser. She unrolled delicate sheets of white tissue with her non-bloodied hand and wrapped them around her fingers and palms, stopping the bleeding for now. Trembling, she hoisted herself onto the sink top and grabbed the cordless phone. She dialed a number and put the ear piece up to her ear.

"Hello?" A cheerful,bubbly voice answered on the other side of the line.

Ilia spoke into the phone in shaky breaths. "Hello?...Agatha...can you get over here? Bring Hena, too...I need to go to the clinic."

•

"Why did you do that?" Hena questioned as she, Agatha, and Ilia came out of the sleek elevator and took the stairs down to the underground parking lot. "There's better ways to cope with depression, you know. Smashing a glass mirror is NOT one of them."

Ilia's eyes flared and she scoffed. "Shut up, Hena. Let's just go. She sighed as all three of them piled into Agatha's car.

As their car was about to turn right, Ilia noticed another car parked in the wrong place, ahead in front of them. Inside was Link, at the driver's wheel. And, speak of the devil, Zelda. They were hugging and feeding each other little chocolates, typical romantic stuff.

Agatha stopped the car. "Hey, isn't that Link?" Hena craned her neck to watch the couple exchange sweets.

Ilia frowned and turned away. The sight was too saddening to watch. Yet again, she felt that same anger that arose in her just a few days ago when Zelda had slapped her cheek. But she just couldn't let it arise, not now.

Link finished chewing the dark chocolate biscuit that Zelda had stuffed in his mouth and wiped his mouth. "Oh, that's really good." He said between swallows. "Thanks." Zelda beamed at him and put away the chocolates into the plastic grocery bag underneath her feet. Zelda leaned closer, her seat belt already unstrapped,and hugged Link's arm. Link accepted the warmth and smiled, closing his eyes.

Hena tapped on Ilia's shoulder, making her turn around and look up at Hena. "Look at what Link and Zelda's doing now! They're hugging! Isn't it so cute?" Ilia's eyes widened in shock as she realised what was actually going on.

That was the last straw -Ilia yanked open the door and burst for the car belonging to Link. She slammed her palms onto the car's hood, jolting the two awake with the noise of human hands against metal.

"Fuck you! Fuck you!" Ilia growled and cursed, flipping the finger at Zelda, who was still clinging on to Link as if he was to protect her. Zelda's mouth was curled into a small smirk, as if she was taunting Ilia. Link turned away sadly, gazing out to his left in a melancholy manner. Ilia kept banging on the hood and the glass until Agatha and Hena got out of their car to intervene.

"Calm down!" Agatha said as she held Ilia's hand to soothe her nerves. "Look, let's go. You really need a break." She and Hena led a crest-fallen Ilia back into their car. Agatha inserted the key into the slot, started the engine, hit the pedal and raced out at top speed.

Zelda scowled and turned back to Link. "I told her that I didn't want to see her again..." She grumbled as Link started to steer the car forward. "That woman..."

Link wasn't listening, however. His eyes wandered towards the exit which Agatha's car left through, his thoughts drifting towards another person.

•

Agatha and Hena dropped Ilia off at her apartment and left. "Now, look, take a rest, and don't even think about those two." Hena instructed as she left. "It'll be better, okay?" It didn't get better, though. Ilia tried her best to lay down and think of better things-but no matter the thought, either Link or Zelda always had to be in it. The same destructive pattern played over and over in her head, an endless loop of memories that were unforgettable.

With frustration and rage blinding her better judgement, Ilia shoved a wooden table into the already peeling apart wall, sending an untouched mug still laden with hot coffee onto the carpeted floor. The bitter scent of the brown liquid that wafted up and into the air didn't help Ilia's thoughts at all.

"Life isn't fair..." Ilia plopped herself back onto the bed nearby and curled into the fetal position. "Why..." She felt salty drops start to roll onto her rosy cheeks, and she didn't bother to wipe them away at all.

•

Zelda and Link turned a corner, shoving past pedestrians and businessmen. In Link's left hand was a shopping bag, Zelda's. Zelda was on Link's right, trying to keep up with his brisk pace in high-heels. The two had just come back from the nearby mall, where Zelda wanted to restock on her make-up before the season was over.

"...and you know, Midna's getting a new car soon..." Zelda talked as they walked. "...She'll be able to take us more places..."

Link let out a breath of air, trying to look else where as Zelda continued to idly speak about others. He scanned the crowd for people he might recognise, either from school, or next-door neighbours. Anything but Zelda's chat. He didn't need to lead the way-Zelda already was pulling him.

When the couple was about to make it to the doorway that led to Zelda's apartment, Link looked behind him...and saw Ilia. She wasn't the girl he used to know at all. This Ilia's appearance was unmaintained and wily. The Ilia he knew was high-functioning and fastidious in every detail. This Ilia had a depressed look about her. The other Ilia was the complete opposite.

.

Link paused as Ilia slowly made her way through the bustling crowd, wandering aimlessly and pushing people with out a thought, as if she had started somewhere but had no destination to end at. He stared for a few, brief seconds as she started to enter the sea of people.

Zelda impatiently tugged on his arm. "Come on, Link, the door's open. Let's go."

"Ahh-okay..." He stepped inside, and Zelda closed the metal gates behind him.

Sadly, Link looked back one last time. Ilia was nowhere to be found.

•

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

Zelda waved her hand in a carefree manner."Yeah, go ahead," she said as she arranged her heels onto the shoe rack.

Link slipped inside and locked the door. He looked around him-Zelda was a huge perfectionist like Ilia was. Shining faucets gleamed in the natural lighting. All hygiene utensils were put into their respective labeled sections. The bathtub and toilet were one-hundred percent free of red mildew and dust. As Link took in his surroundings, he remembered Ilia's bathroom-the way it smelled of lavender, the scolding he would get if he didn't put the soap bar in its place...and he winced. Ilia.

She looked so depressed as she trudged the streets of New Castle Town...oh Ilia, oh God-what did I just do? I just...

All of a sudden, Link felt something on his chest start to burn-then the burning sensation started to grow, spreading across his body and numbing his fingers and arms. It was harder to breathe now, he could feel his chest pumping up and down, fighting for air. His heart pounded faster and faster then-

It all went black. Then silence.

•

The last of Zelda's make-up was finally put away. Zelda was just about to change until she hear a loud THUD in the bathroom Link was in. Worried, she ran up to the locked door and knocked on it three times. "Link? Are you okay?"

No response.

"Link? Link!" Zelda banged harder on the wood, but to no avail. She took out her house keys and put the metal stick into the hole lock, opening the door. Quickly, she twisted the doorknob open, almost sprinted inside...and gasped at the sight on the floor. Link,collapsed face-first onto the tile, his body limp and unconscious. Zelda kneeled down and rolled him over. "Oh-oh, shit..." Zelda moaned as she held her ear to his chest and listened for signs of breathing. "No..."

She got up and picked up the phone from the table just outside the bathroom. Her fingers shook and trembled as she dialed the emergency hotline and put the phone up to her ear.

An operator picked up immediately on the other line. "This is 911, what is your emergency?"

Zelda's voice quavered as she spoke."My boyfriend's unconscious and on the floor-he's not breathing...please, send an ambulance."

•

Link was admitted to a hospital the same day. After they had dealt with him in the ER, the doctor came out to talk to Zelda about Link's condition.

The doctor, a rather middle aged man named Dr. Auru, sat in the chair next to Zelda and crossed his fingers under his chin. His face had a grave look about them. Zelda could tell that the condition was very serious.

"You're his girlfriend, right?" The doctor looked at her kindly. "I have bad news-are you sure you want to hear?"

Zelda just silently nodded.

Dr. Auru sighed and shook his head. "He never told you about his sickness, right?" Another nod from Zelda. "Well, your boyfriend here has dilated cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart muscles. He's actually had it for a very long time. He's survived for a very long time now-he hasn't fainted or the such until now." The doctor looked at Zelda, hard. "There's a big chance that he might die."

"What?" Zelda asked in shock, her eyes widening. "Isn't there anything you can do? Medicine? Anything?" Dr. Auru just shook his head again. "No. Medication isn't strong enough. Whatever we might do, there's still a chance of death."

"Surgery, how about surgery?" Now Zelda was desperate and pleading. Link never told her about his problems, thus why it was such a shock to her.

The old doctor thought about it for a while. "Maybe-it's all up to him, however. Why don't you go ask him about it now?"

•

The doors to the hospital room creaked as it opened on its hinges. Zelda peeked inside and saw a Link, heavily tethered to different medical objects-an IV, a heart monitor, some sort of console, and many others she couldn't identify.

Link smiled as she came close. "Hey."

"Hi..." Zelda returned, trying to suppress a teary sob. "The doctor told me about everything. He asked if you wanted to undergo surgery...something like so." As she explained, her fingers locked and unlocked in nervousness. "But he doesn't guarantee much chance of living."

"I'll think about it. Actually, I might...I will, maybe..."

Zelda felt the tears she had tried to keep back start to drip down her cheeks. She wiped them away before Link could notice. "Okay..." She sniffed. "Okay..."

Link looked down in shame. "I'm sorry-I didn't tell you until now," he apologised. "But there's nothing left but that choice. Now that you know-do you mind doing me a favour? Take my phone-and call everyone on the 'friends' list." He handed Zelda his phone. "Tell them to come here, and I'm dying." Lastly, call this number-" At this point, he took a folded piece of paper with a bulge from his pockets-"tell her the same thing. And then come back." He placed it in Zelda's hands.

"Okay...I'll do that right now." Zelda tucked the phone and the slip of paper into a purse pocket. "One question though-who's number is the one on the paper?"

Link didn't respond.

"Okay, then..." Zelda swung the door open and closed it behind him. "See you later, Link." Once she got to the level's lounge, she took out the phone,went to "Contacts", then to "Friends". She called every number-Shad's, Midna's, Ashei's, Agatha's and Hena's. Finally, when she finished telling them the bad news, she opened the slip of paper and dialed the number. As she rode the glass elevator down, a very familar voice answered from the other side of the line. "Hello?"

"Hi, Link told me to call you-he's in the hospital now,with some heart disease... he's...he's in the ER right now, and he's about to have surg-"

The phone hung up on the other side before Zelda could finish her sentence.

•

"No..." Ilia groaned as she jammed the "End Call" button on her phone's screen. "No, no, no, this can't be happening..." She grabbed her sweater from the chair and sprinted out the door in a flash. As she ran through the crowds of the city streets, pushing and shoving aside pedestrians, her mind turned towards the time Link and her were still a couple-all happy memories. Not one mention of a heart disease. Why didn't he tell her? Why did he have to hide it all this time?

•

All of Link's friends had come, and were now piled up in the ER room, trying to comfort him. "You sure you gonna be okay?" Midna asked. "You're gonna get that surgery, right?" Link just smiled and nodded. "Better than no chance at all. Trust me."

A nurse came in and shooed the entourage of friends away. Two more nurses came into wheel Link away.

Zelda leaned on the wall outside, watching Link's friends shuffle away to the OR. Link and a couple of nurses followed suit. Before he could disappear, however, he requested to talk to Zelda for a while.

"I want you to do this last favour for me. Please."

•

Ilia sprinted up the hospital stairs until she reached the cardiology floor. She dodged medical equipment,startled nurses and turned left and right in search of the OR room. Finally, she saw a sign in front of her that depicted an arrow pointing left, labeled Operational Room. She curved around the corner and stopped. All the benches were occupied by Link's friends. In addition was Agatha and Hena. Finally, in the middle of the hallway was Zelda. Ilia tried to shrug her off and headed in the direction of the door, but was stopped by Zelda's slender hand. Ilia would had retaliated if she had not realised Zelda's red eyes and makeup falling off in trails.

"Hey, I'm sorry for everything..." Zelda mumbled. She held out a leather necklace, Link's. "Link wanted to...He wanted..." Ilia could see that she was struggling between tears and her words. Zelda sniffed and wiped her eyes with her index fingers."He wanted to tell you that he's sorry." She took Ilia's hand and placed the necklace on her palm. More tears started to come down Zelda's face."The reason why he broke up with you was because he wanted to hide the fact that he had this heart disease. He was hoping you would forget about him and move on, but he was wrong. He loved you, Ilia, he really did."

Ilia felt her emotions start to get the best of her. Her vision blurred and salty water started to drip from her eyelids. "So...that's how?" Her sobs started small, then grew in noise and size. "Why didn't he just say it?" She slumped on the floor, stumbling against the wall. "Why?" Her fingers tightened their grip on Link's necklace. "I wouldn't have minded at all...I wouldn't care. I would still..." She gulped. "I would have still loved him."

Zelda placed a arm around Ilia and sat down besides her. "So...so would I." A tear formed on Zelda's eyelashes. "It isn't fair at all-I only knew him for so long."

•

The steady beeping of the heart monitor and hushed voices of the doctors and surgeons were soothing enough to send Link back to the past-his past. Memories played over and over in different colours, happy memories. Sharing ice-cream with a mother that didn't exist anymore. Winning the city's fencing championships. Camping and hanging on for dear life on tall cliffs with Midna,Shad and Ashei. Riding the highest roller coaster, eating sweet chocolate at the nearby farm. All this and more playing like a old movie reel. Most of these memories were dull, grey and muted-but the ones that were close to full colour and more vivid were somehow more memorable...more easier to recall.

There was a time when he and Ilia were sitting at a park bench, trying to consume all of the gigantic cake that Ilia had bought for his birthday. The white icing was long gone from the cake, and now they were trying to eat up all the chocolate. As Link stuffed his mouth, he laughed. Some of the cake fell out and landed onto his lap. And that time, when they took pictures together on a half-stolen camera, her dad's...and that time when Ilia gave him that necklace that she made herself...

What about Zelda? Her memories were also as vivid...it might have been fake affection for her at first, but it grew...it was just a flick of the match so many weeks ago. But then it became a fire. They were in the movie theatre again, watching that newly released film...Zelda giggling on the other while Link tried to keep his balance on the stepping stones at the park's pond. Those times were fun too...

The overhead surgical light turned on, removing Link from his dream-state and blinding his vision. All he could see was white...and death calling out to him.

It's helpless, isn't it? This sucks. I don't want to leave now.

A drop of water trickled down his right eye.

Damn it. Don't you start crying now.

The blinded Link felt death creep over his eyes, turning all the white to black. His eyelids fluttered for just barely a second, then slowly, an unknown force pulled them over his foggy blue irises, forever sealing them inside a tomb. His breaths were more shallow with each beep of the heart meter.

Dit, dit, dit...

_I'm all numb._

This was it. This was Link's last seconds on Earth. He allowed the inevitable to wash over him.

Dit,dit,dit...

_Shit. I don't want to die at all._

A final, desprate breath of air...and another tear, and another.

Dit,dit...

_I'm sorry, you two._

Dit...

The heart monitor showed one last feeble spike, then flattened out. That terrible noise coming from the monitor, that long beeping, declared the death of one person...doctors and surgeons raced to the scene, one taking the patient's arm into his gloved hands and feeling for a pulse.

None.

Link had finally died.

•

Waiting time was just minutes, but to Zelda, Ilia and friends, it felt as if time was hours, days, weeks, even decades. The scene in the OR's hallway was morbid, its occupants desperate and impatient. Shad, Ashei, and Midna sat silently on the brown coloured couch to the left. To the right, Agatha and Hena spoke in lowered tones. And on the ground was Ilia and Zelda, both wiping their continuously emerging tears with tissue.

"I hope Link makes it out okay." Hena whispered to Agatha, who nodded in agreement.

The bright red "Operation in Process" light finally turned off, dimming the ambience and making everyone snap from their silent reverie. All seven friends stood up and awaited for the outcome of the surgery. Finally, Dr. Auru emerged from the OR.

"Was the surgery okay?" Shad was the first to ask.

Dr. Auru grimly frowned. "Only a damn few minutes in and..." He paused for a bit. "I'll let you see for yourself." The doctor opened the door and slipped inside. Some talk was heard, and then the clatter of wheels. A few seconds later, the doctor remerged from the room, then out came a nurse. A gurney followed. A gurney-with a body on it. Link's. Dead and unmoving, like a marble statue. Dr. Auru explained in the most easiest to understand way. "He died only minutes in. We didn't even conduct the surgery on him yet, and he just dies...it was inevitable-he was going to die sooner or later anyways. I'm very, very sorry."

Ilia hesitantly walked over and kneeled down to his side. She brushed her hand along his cheek...it was icy-cold. She combed his bangs out of his closed eyes and looked at his face. In death, he was just as handsome as he was in life.

"So...this is it, huh?" Ilia whispered. "Link." The name brought back those memories of old-those memories that made Ilia cry. Zelda noticed and placed a hand on her shoulders, trying to comfort her. All the other friends bowed their heads down in respect. "Link..." Ilia whimpered, placing her head down onto his clammy chest and starting to sob into it. "I'm so sorry, Link, I'm so sorry..." She gasped through cries. "Link..."

•

A/N- Damn. I did NOT enjoy writing this as much, especially those last parts. I can not write for life. Everyone's ooc and whiny. The only reason I wrote this was cause I was bored. This is, in all honesty, somewhat terrible and shitty. I apologise for everyone being OOC.

Anyways, I found myself listening to these songs while typing-

Haru Haru-Big Bang

Departures-globe (Kagamine Rin/Len version)

Somebody I Used to Know-Gotye

Thanks for reading.


End file.
